now playing 2-17-05

Doc Hollow’s Acoustic Revue, a
collection of area pickers and grinners organized by Tom Beverly
and Mark LeVault, is a once-in-awhile, if not a once-in-a-lifetime,
music smorgasbord. The entertainment spectacle is like an old-time
variety show with performers playing three or four songs each
before the next act takes over.

Beverly emcees the event, putting in the
patter between the entertainers, keeping the downtime to no more
than a minute or two. LeVault plays bass with Beverly and any one
else in the revue needing accompaniment. “People always have
their favorites,” Beverly says, “and they say how they
really like the mix.”

An epiphany, wrought from past performance
pleasure and perceived audience acceptance, was the spark for the
inspiration. “Mark and I are Doc Hollow when we play out and
we were coming back from a show in Nashville,” he says.
“We were thinking, do we really want to stand up and play for
three or four hours at a time? And do people really want to hear
anybody for that long? That’s when we concocted this
thing.”

They set the performance schedule up ahead of
time so each musician knows when to get ready, when to go on, and
when they’re done. “Then we can tailor the show to a
venue or event,” Beverly explains. “We add or take away
songs to someone’s set to fit time and content
concerns.”

The first DHAR was held at Tony
Turasky’s Trail’s End in Curran. “We had a bunch
of bikers in there that night and they loved it,” Beverly
says. “But we needed a bigger place to make it work
better.” In September they tried the Cellar downstairs in Andiamo!, the smoke-free
restaurant/bar/coffeehouse in downtown Springfield. It worked so well
they came back for more. “Jeff [Berendt, owner of Andiamo!] told
us he’d have to set up more chairs for this show. That’s
what you like to hear.”

This week’s edition of the acoustic
exhibition includes original music, classic acoustic rock, blues,
traditional folk, Beatles songs, and a hodge-podge of whatever
works. “I always like going to open mics,” Beverly
says, “because you never know what you’re going to
hear. This is a lot like that — except we know who is going
to be playing.”